Later that night Ayame was preparing his dinner over the fire next to Koga's cave. She was cooking deer chili, which she knew was Koga's favorite.

Ayame was trying her best to cook the chili to perfection, she wanted Koga to be pleased with her cooking.

She continued to stir the chili, just thinking about Koga, like usual.

...

KOGA POV

Koga was sitting in a tree close to the river he loved so much. He watched the water flow down the river, thinking about Kagome.

'Where could she be? Is she safe?'

Koga shook his head.

'stop it! Snap out of it! She's in love with the mutt! Even though I hate that thought, I know it's true. I could tell from the start that they have a very special relationship, I just didn't wan't to admit it to myself. You can just tell they're in love. The way they worry about eachother, the way they look out for and take care of eachother... bleh. It makes me sick to think someone, especially my Kagome, could be in love with that half-breed. Why is he so special anyway? He's just a half-breed! Me, I'm a full-fledged demon, and the head of my pack too!...'

Koga got down from his perch in his tree and started walking towards his cave, still deep in thought.

'... I can still worry about her though, I mean, we're at least friends right? Of course! Duh! She is so nice and caring towards me, she has to AT LEAST see me as a friend... And maybe, if, no WHEN she comes back, I'll win her over! Yea that's what i'll do! I'll steal her away from that mutt!'

Koga now began to walk faster, with a wide grin on his face

...

AYAME POV

'I can smell Koga, he must be on his way. I hope he likes his dinner... I worked so hard on it!'

Ayame began to pour some chili into bowls to prepare for when Koga arrived.

She sat them on a stone that they often ate off of. She sat them down and looked at them.

'hm... the bowls are kinda close. If i sit too close to him, he'll think i'm coming onto him, and Kami knows I don't need anymore sexual harrassment from him...'

Ayame moved the bowls farther apart...

'but now they're almost too far apart. I don't want him to think i'm mad at him or avoiding him...'

And once again Ayame moved the bowls, trying to get the placement just right.

When all of a sudden she was interrupted by a pair of hands suddenly on her hips. In alarm, she tried to spin around to face her attacker, but the grip on her hips was too strong. She felt a breath on her neck. She knew this wasn't Koga. His touch was gentle, this grip hurt.

She heard a low chuckle, "Whatcha doing here alone pretty girl? A girl like you shouldn't be alone. Wanna come to my cave and keep me company sugar?"

The unknown man was dragging Ayame closer to the opening of the cave.

'No! I can't let him take me!... But he's too strong! Why didn't I sense his presence? I have to escape or...'

The man grabbed took one of his hands up to her head and grabbed her pigtail, pulling her head backwards, and then sniffing her neck.

"You sick-o let me go!" ayame said as she tried to free herself from his grasp.

The man laughed. "Such strong words from such a small girl. Let me put you in your place!"

As soon as those words left his mouth, Ayame felt a sudden pressure. The man went flying forward and with the sudden loss of the grip on her, she fell onto the cave floor. She pulled her shaking body from the cold floor. She looked up and she felt a sudden relief wash through her body.

"What the hell do you think you're doing in my cave? But here's a better question, why do you have your hands on Ayame?"

Koga ran up to the brute and slamed him against the wall, looking him in the eyes.

Koga had a look on his face that she'd never seen before. She couldn't even begin to describe it. The amount of hatred she saw in his eyes towards this man, the snarl on his face, Ayame didn't like seeing Koga like this.

Koga punched the wall next to the man's head, leaving a hole in the cave wall.

"I'll ask you one more time! Why in the hell did you have your hands on her! ANSWER ME!"

The man looked at Koga with a phycotic look in his eyes. "I just couldn't keep my hands off of her. She's so beautiful. She's... mine. She'll make me very happy."

The man looked over at Ayame and licked his lips. The look the man gave to Ayame made tears come to her eyes. Her body trembled in fear.

She looked towards Koga, who was shaking with rage. He pulled back his fist and began punching the man in the face. Over and over again. When the man fell to the ground from Koga's hits, he bagan kicking him.

Ayame couldn't pull her eyes away. As much as she didn't want to watch, something wouldn't let her eyes look away.

Suddenly Koga stopped kicking the man. He pulled him up by his throat and slammed him against the wall once again.

"Now you listen to me. You get the hell out of here. You had better get as far away from me as possible. If I even smell one whiff of your stench around 500 miles of here, i'll come and I'll finish what I started here. "

The man didn't argue he limped towards the opeining of the cave. You could see the fear in his eyes, he limped away without looking back.

Ayame looked back towards Koga. He was standing there with his fist clenched. His fist was clenched so tightly he cut his hands with his claws. He was shaking.

Ayame pulled herself from the ground and began to walk towards Koga.

Ayame took Koga's hand in hers. She unclenched his fist. She looked upon his fist, bloody and bruised from punching the cave wall. She took a spare piece of pelt and began dressing his wounds. When she was done, she looked up at Koga's face. She looked into his eyes. They were filled with such... sadness.

She couldn't prepare herself for what came next. Koga took Ayame into his arms and embraced her. She had never been held so tightly in all of her life. He gently placed his hand on her head.

Ayame didn't know how long they stood there like that, and she didn't care. With her head placed in the crook of her neck, she had never felt safer then she did then.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity, Koga spoke.

"Ayme did he hurt you? Are you alright?" He said while stoking her hair softly.

"I'm okay just a few scrapes and bruises here and there... I'll be okay." Ayame said, trying to sound confident in her answer.

Koga pulled away slowly, and looked into Ayame's eyes.

"Ayame, are you sure?" He said as he carressed her cheek.

Ayame smiled. "Koga, i'm fine."

He continued to look into her eyes with the same amount of intensity.

"Ayame, I'm so sorry. If I would have been just a few minutes earlier then none of this would have ha-"

ayame stoped him by bringing a finger to his lips.

"Don't." she said softly. "Don't do that to yourself. None of this was your fault. And you saved me Koga, and for that I'm truely grateful."

Koga smiled a small smile. "I'm glad you're okay Ayame. If he would have-"

Once again Ayame brought her hand to his mouth, silencing him.

"But he didn't. He didn't do anything to me besides mess up my hair a little. Now, lets sit down and enjoy our dinner, like none of this ever happened."

"But it did happen Ayame!" Koga yelled. "I wasn't here to protect you like I should have been! What kind of leader am I if I can't protect the ones I care about?"

Ayame was shocked she didn't know what to say.

"Ayame, If I can't protect one person from being hurt, how can I protect my pack? What if something happened to them again. It was my fault! The first time I wasn't strong enough! And Naraku slayed them! There are so many demons out there? What if what happened with my other men happened to my pack now? What if-"

Ayame had placed her hand over his mouth once again. She had a stern look in her eyes.

"Koga, you listen to me. You are an amazing leader. I know you feel guilty for the death of your fallen comrades. But that is in the past. We have to put the past behind us, or we'll never be able to move forward! And what's with all this 'what if I'm not strong enough' stuff? What makes you think that you're alone? You have the strength of Hakaku and Ginta... and you'll always have me."

She took her hand off of his mouth and placed it on his cheek.

"Koga, don't you ever think for a moment that you're alone. You don't have to deal with things by yourself. You're surrounded by people who care about you and would do anything for you, and if you're too prideful to do that, say you made me help you cause i'm your personal slave..."

That comment made Koga show the slightest smile.

Ayame embraced Koga once more. "There it is. That smile I love to see. I'm okay Koga... I promise. We'll be okay. We can make it through this. We can make it through anything. And thank you. Thank you for saving me time after time. I know I can always count on you Koga."

She pulled out of the hug and looked Koga in the eyes. She could see the contentment and happiness in his eyes. She leaned forward and placed a light kiss upon his left cheek. She pulled away and turned towards their dinner.

"Now c'mon i've made your favorite! Let's enjoy it together!" Ayame went about placing fresh chili in their bowls. While Koga sat down at their dinner stone, with a hand on his cheek where ayame's lips had once been. He looked over and the young wolf girl preparing his dinner and smiled to himself.